


Little Wartime Intimacies

by Five Moments of Zanii (Zaniida)



Series: Five Moments of Intimacy (Alt Fandoms) [2]
Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: 3 Sentence Fiction, 3SFMI, Five Moments of Intimacy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25260757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaniida/pseuds/Five%20Moments%20of%20Zanii
Summary: Psychiatrist Sidney Freedman visits the 4077 and briefly connects with a few people.A demonstration of the "Five Moments of (Nonsexual) Intimacy" (FMI or FMNI) fic form, as well as the more specialized Three-Sentence Five Moments of Intimacy (3SFMI).
Relationships: Charles Emerson Winchester III/Martine LeClerc, Sidney Freedman & Charles Emerson Winchester III, Sidney Freedman & Father Francis Mulcahy, Sidney Freedman & Maxwell Klinger, Sidney Freedman & Radar O'Reilly, Sidney Freedman & Sherman Potter
Series: Five Moments of Intimacy (Alt Fandoms) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626043
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	Little Wartime Intimacies

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to branch out into some other fandoms just to show that the FMI fic form is not fandom-specific. MASH is one I chose more than a year ago, but I didn't really sit down and put time into it. Well, here you go.
> 
> For those unaware of the fic form, here's the [details](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1439153). Basically, one scene each in five categories of nonsexual intimacy. It's a pushback against this commonplace idea that "intimacy" means, or implies, sex -- and it really doesn't. Two people can be _deeply_ intimate without a hint of sexual interest in each other, and sex without intimacy happens all the time. And relationships that focus on the sex to the exclusion of other types of intimacy are, well, boring. And generally short-lived.
> 
> So I coined this fic form specifically to focus on the ways in which people can be intimate outside of sexuality.
> 
> The five categories of intimacy are:
> 
>   1. **Physical/Sensual Intimacy:** Hugs, massage, grooming, first aid, etc.
>   2. **Emotional Intimacy (or Comfort):** Shared emotion, or seeing one's emotional shields down.
>   3. **Experiential Intimacy:** Sharing an event, or a life experience, or letting down your hair together.
>   4. **Secret Sharing:** Anything you wouldn't want the public at large to know about you.
>   5. **Vulnerability/Acceptance:** Letting the other person be in a position to hurt you -- falling asleep in their presence, letting them tie you up, telling them your greatest fear or weakness.
> 

> 
> They can, of course, be in any order, and they do overlap a bit. Again, see the [official post](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1439153) for more information on each category, as well as a couple bonus categories such as Teasing Intimacy.
> 
> In August, I'll be hosting an event that focuses on this fic form. If you're interested in possibly writing your own, please get in touch! I want to see this fic form spread out across many fandoms, and I'd love to see the concepts start taking root outside the fic form itself.
> 
> Anyway!
> 
> Since this is in Sidney's POV, I decided to use the characters' first names; it feels like that's how he would mentally classify them, as opposed to all the surnames and ranks and such.
> 
> Also, it has been a long time since I watched the show, and I don't think I ever saw 100% of it. So I went to the wiki and some YouTube clips to look up the characters and try to get a handle on the details. I hope that none of the details I've used clash too strongly with canon, but in case they do, call it a minor AU ^_^

**I. Physical Intimacy**

Sherman doesn’t think twice about taking Sidney’s coat; it’s such a little thing, not even a pause in their greetings as Sidney shrugs out of it and Sherman hangs it on the coat rack with a “Here for anything in particular, doc?”

Sidney smiles a little tiredly. “Oh… a little human contact, a chance to see people being normal again… more or less.”

* * *

**II. Vulnerability**

Sidney isn’t surprised when Maxwell seeks his counsel, but the topic does give him pause: The fear of sterility, from having caught the mumps.

“Eighteen uncles, and just the one cousin—my mom’s the only one who managed to have more than one kid, and so the pressure’s on us to keep the family going, and what am I gonna do if I can’t have a son?”

They discuss it for a while before Sidney muses, almost offhandedly, “So many children in the world who have nothing… just waiting on a home”—and Maxwell follows his gaze out of the tent to the visiting orphans, with whom he’s spent so much time lately… and he seems uncharacteristically thoughtful when they finally part ways.

* * *

**III. Secret Sharing**

Charles, who previously claimed to have had his fill of psychiatry “at the age of nine,” seems unusually pleased to see him; he invites Sidney in to share what’s left of his cognac, and Sidney follows him into the tent, his curiosity piqued.

Twenty minutes later, over a game of cribbage, Charles is describing how he lost the woman of his dreams because of incompatible core values, and how much he regrets that he cannot find it in himself to change enough to go after her.

“I’m not seeking advice,” he murmurs; “I just wanted to tell someone who I knew wouldn’t either judge me for letting her go, or judge me for wanting her back.”

* * *

**IV. Experiential Intimacy**

As Sidney goes to leave, he spots an old familiar friend in the corner: Radar’s stuffed bear, snuggled up next to Hawkeye’s cot.

 _One of them got out_ , he thinks: _One of them went home_.

He’ll always have a soft spot in his heart for Radar, who kept his innocence despite it all, and whose anxieties— _I think I’m going crazy; what happens when I go back home?_ —were endearingly close to Sidney’s own.

* * *

**V. Emotional Intimacy**

As the day draws to a close, Sidney takes a seat next to Francis to watch the sun set over the little band of weary warriors who—most of them—never intended to be warriors at all.

In this moment, there are no words between them, but Sidney recalls their camaraderie during a previous encounter, and how Francis had compared the way they shepherd the flock: _You’ve lost a mind; I’ve lost a soul._

 _Let there be no more lost sheep this year_ , Sidney thinks, not quite a prayer but every bit as fervent.

**Author's Note:**

> In 2018, I participated in a couple of fic exchanges. One of them was multifandom, and I was excited to see MASH on the list. I almost signed up for that.
> 
> Except... the pairings were _super_ limiting. It was basically sex, sex, sex, or Margaret Houlihan, and almost every pairing included Hawkeye, and I was like... "Whaaa?" As if all the interesting characterization in MASH revolves around Hawkeye Pierce.
> 
> Not understanding the restrictions of the exchange, I tried to indicate that I'd write for Winchester, Klinger, Radar, Mulcahy -- but I quickly got shot down, and told that the pairings had already been decided on and couldn't be changed. Which, fine, I figured out how to abide by the exchange rules and I wrote a fic that I'm quite proud of.
> 
> But... other fandoms in that exchange had _dozens_ of pairings, some I would never have thought of. I vaguely recall Utena having a ton of weird pairings. And yet MASH had only a handful, and not very interesting ones at that? I was, and remain, kinda miffed. (I debated about joining the same exchange the next year, earlier, so as to have a say in better pairings, but eventually I decided not to bother.)
> 
> So... that's a big part of why this fic specifically avoids the most prominent characters in the series. I love Hawkeye, but MASH is far more than Hawkeye. I enjoy Hunnicutt, and even Margaret, but the characters I like most are Freedman, and Winchester, and Mulcahy, and Klinger (roughly in that order). They have a lot of heart. They have a lot of interesting details to explore. Because MASH was full of well-written characters, and these guys hold a special place in my heart.


End file.
